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Editor’s
7 CJADC2 concepts gain
By John M. McHale III
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SPECIAL REPORT: Leveraging AI for CJADC2
Digital twins: fostering efficient network modernization By Yun Zhou, Tyto Athene 14 Software mobility: keeping the U.S. military’s strategic edge By Michael MacFadden, Sigma Defense
MIL TECH TRENDS: Time-sensitive networking for military applications
16 TSN is changing military network architecture By Dan Taylor, Technology Editor
20 Executive interview: Tanika Watson, executive leader for the GE Aerospace Future Vertical Lift business By John M. McHale III, Editorial Director
INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT
Rugged computing & thermal management: Enclosures, chassis, connectors
24 Liquid cooling unlocks performance in embedded systems By Morgan Uridil, Crystal Group
28 Rugged mobile computing for the military – specific and standardized By Joe Guest, Durabook
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Time-sensitive networking (TSN) is aimed at providing deterministic, real-time communications capabilities for modern defense and avionics systems, enhancing the performance, reliability, and maintainability of modern systems like those found on the F/A-18. In the photo, an F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to the “Blacklions” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 213, launches from the flight deck of the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78). Gerald R. Ford is the U.S. Navy's newest and most advanced aircraft carrier. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Tajh Payne.
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CJADC2 concepts gain momentum
By John M. McHale III
A concept that is gaining steam and technological legs within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is the Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) strategy. We’ve covered CJADC2 since before the DoD added the “C” for “combined” as a way to interact with allied partners in a datacentric network scenario. At first it was mostly visionary discussions without practical solutions, but now actual products are being developed by primes and embedded hardware and software providers.
According to the DoD’s Chief Digital Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO), CJADC2 “is not a single system, but a series of interconnected capabilities from the edge to the boardroom, providing the joint commander with sensors and systems across the tactical, operational, and strategic levels to create a clearer picture of the current situation in the fog of war.”
With that definition in mind, we developed our annual CJADC2 at the Edge Virtual Summit, set to be held September 17, 2025 at 11 a.m. EDT. The event is designed to drive awareness and thought leadership around CJADC2 concepts and requirements and to study how artificial intelligence (AI), secure communications, high-performance computing, cyber operations, data connectivity, and other embedded technology solutions will impact system designs.
The main CJADC2 sessions are:
› Solving Data Connectivity Challenges for CJADC2 Operations
› Enabling Trusted Networks & Systems for CJADC2
› Leveraging AI in CJADC2 Operations
Our keynote speaker this year is Ron Fehlen, National Security Space Mission Architect Vice President, Lockheed Martin. In this role, he is responsible for leveraging mission-focused systems thinking combined with the National Security Space (NSS), space, and the company’s 1LMX capabilities, investments, and partnerships. He directly supports Lockheed Martin’s initiatives driving toward CJADC2 and air-space-maritimeground capability.
Fehlen’s team at Lockheed Martin developed a software solution aimed at connecting advanced warfighting systems for CJADC2, dubbing the software the CJADC2 Interoperability Factory. The self-funded solution is producing an openarchitecture software stack designed to connect the machine languages of the United States’ existing advanced weapon systems, in a way that is message standard-agnostic, according to the company’s CJADC2 page. This “connection” is key to increasing data exchanges, advancing interoperability, and
John.McHale@opensysmedia.com
vastly improving situational awareness between systems and system operators.
Lockheed Martin will begin demonstrating the CJADC2 Interoperability Factory to customers over the next few months and is looking to test the system out in the field during future government exercises, according to the company.
Our July/August issue also features coverage on CJADC2 with an article by Michael McFadden, CTO of Sigma Defense: “Software mobility: keeping the U.S. military’s strategic edge.”
McFadden writes that programs like CJADC2 rely heavily on data mobility and “while there is no question that being able to move data quickly and efficiently is essential to delivering information superiority, the DoD must also achieve software mobility to continue to dominate.”
McFadden says “simply, software mobility is the ability to freely move applications around the entire enterprise and run them wherever they need to run based on dynamic mission requirements. While data mobility means moving information toward software – a foundational concept of the ‘any sensor to any shooter’ objective of CJADC2 – software mobility turns that concept inside out, making it the software that moves toward the data or the user.” To read more, please see page 14.
Modernizing the DoD’s command-and-control (C2) systems to create such a network of sensors and systems will require faster acquisition of commercial technology from the tactical cloud to processor chip, which means much wider use of modular open systems approach (MOSA) strategies. Acquisition reform and MOSA are subjects we opine on often in this space, and they will be critical to solving the CJADC2 approach. CJADC2 won’t happen today, at the end of 2025, or even next year, but the tools are there if the DoD can get out of its own way and integrate AI and uncrewed systems more quickly.
Apparently DoD leadership agrees. A mid-July memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth titled “Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance” states: “Drones are the biggest battlefield innovation in a generation, accounting for most of this year’s casualties in Ukraine.” He says he is “rescinding restrictive policies that hindered production and limited access to these vital technologies. I am delegating authorities to procure and operate drones from the bureaucracy to our warfighters.”
He adds that the DoD has approved hundreds of U.S.-made products for purchase by the DoD, aiming to arm combat units with a variety of low-cost drones made by American engineers and AI experts.
DEFENSE TECH WIRE
UPDATES
By Dan Taylor, Technology Editor
Electronic warfare upgrades to support Argentinian F-16 fleet modernization
Danish defense and security firm Terma signed a support agreement with the Argentinian Ministry of Defense and Argentina's air force to provide electronic warfare (EW) system upgrades and services for 24 former Royal Danish Air Force F-16 aircraft.
Terma’s announcement notes that the support effort follows Argentina’s April 2024 acquisition of the F-16 fleet from Denmark’s Ministry of Defense Acquisition and Logistics Organisation, a transfer coordinated with the U.S. government. Terma will deliver software and hardware enhancements, ground-support equipment, mission-planning tools, and engineering assistance as part of a broader refurbishment effort led by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. These services are intended to ensure the aircraft are operationally configured to meet the specific needs of Argentina's air force. Argentina is replacing its retired fleet of Dassault Mirage III fighters with F-16s.
Navigation systems for Hellenic Navy FDI frigates
French industrial group Naval Group chose navigation specialists Exail to supply systems for the Greek navy’s defense and intervention (FDI) frigates. Exail’s statement says that the systems include Exail’s Marins inertial navigation system (INS), Netans data distribution unit (DDU), and Gecdis-W warship electronic chart display and information system (WECDIS).
According to Exail, the equipment is engineered to operate within a cybersecure digital architecture and is intended to support multi-domain missions including anti-air, anti-surface, and anti-submarine warfare, as well as special operations. The Marins INS provides continuous inertial navigation data without reliance on external signals. The Netans DDU, the Exail announcement says, enables secure data sharing across onboard systems, while the Gecdis-W WECDIS provides tactical electronic charting and situational awareness in compliance with STANAG/NATO military standards.
Uncrewed systems tested in first EU-wide campaign in Italy
Six European defense firms demonstrated uncrewed aerial and ground systems as part of the European Defence Agency’s first European Defence Innovation Operational Experimentation (OPEX) campaign, the agency announced. The campaign, conducted at the Italian army’s Multifunctional Experimentation Centre near Rome, tested technologies in realistic operational conditions. It marks the first EU-level effort to coordinate live field experimentation among multiple member states.
Participating companies included Beyond Vision (Portugal), Altus LSA (Greece), Schiebel (Austria), Alysis (Spain), PIAP (Poland), and Arx Robotics (Germany). Each firm was awarded a contract in one of six categories, ranging from low-cost uncrewed aerial systems (UASs) to tracked logistical uncrewed ground systems (UGSs), according to the statement.
Figure 1 | Royal Danish Air Force F-16 photo courtesy U.S. Air Force; photo by Staff Sgt. Perry Aston.
Figure 2 | Image via European Defence Agency.
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Digital twins: fostering efficient network modernization
By Yun Zhou
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) strategic edge against adversarial threats hinges on the ability to modernize its network infrastructure – ensuring system resiliency, reliability, and readiness that advances the national security mission.
To efficiently manage and modernize these complex networks amid datatransport challenges, siloed departments, and limited joint interoperability for concepts like the Combined Joint AllDomain Command and Control (CJADC2) approach, defense agencies must fully embrace digital twin technology to achieve real-time understanding, coordination, and adaptability.
A digital twin is a virtual representation of a physical object, process, or environment that mirrors its real-world counterpart to predict future behavior. These models are powered by real-time data inputs and can replicate real network properties to enable a holistic view of connectivity across an organization.
Without this technology, agencies face several potential challenges: Network changes can’t be safely tested prior to deployment, forcing teams to perform directly on live networks where unexpected edge cases may arise. Trial and error often create nonstandard configurations on live networks, which hinders automation. Moreover, without an accurate model of the network, it’s difficult to predict how failures may cause traffic congestion or isolation, which reduces overall resilience and mission agility.
This is why digital twin technology has been top of mind for government. In February 2023, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report exploring the new tech and detailing how agencies can best leverage this approach. In 2024, The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released a request for information to develop a National Digital Twins Strategic Plan.
Digital twins can bridge the gap between physical systems and digital intelligence and enable the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) tools effectively, accelerate modernization, and deploy next-generation network capabilities more efficiently and applications such as CJADC2.
This technology can empower network modernization across the DoD landscape by lowering operational costs, reducing mission-critical risks, and improving cyber resiliency for the nation’s most sensitive infrastructures. With a need for innovation and forward-thinking solutions to face adversarial threats, digital twin technology must be adopted as the driving force behind DoD’s network modernization journey.
Hardening network performance and security
Digital twins enable smarter, faster ways to design, test, deploy, and secure critical defense network systems. Traditional laboratory networks are often limited in scope and fidelity, failing to replicate the scale and complexity of live DoD networks.
In contrast, digital twins can accurately model and adjust to varying operational scenarios, such as battlefield dynamics, terrain impacts or maritime conditions –enabling the safe simulation and emulation of configuration changes and upgrades without affecting the live network.
Defense agencies can use digital twins to simulate potential disruptions, conduct vulnerability analyses, design resilient paths, compare architectural designs and enable network visualization.
For example, the U.S. Air Force recently used digital twins to evaluate commercial network services, resulting in 100-275% resiliency improvements and 100-400% performance enhancements.
Utilizing digital twin technology, the department was able to model use cases for emergency high-volume traffic scenarios and conduct path analysis on where traffic
• Various SOSA® slot profiles supported • High-speed dual-plane 100 Gigabit Ethernet Switches
Figure 1 | Defense agencies can use digital twins to simulate and analyze potential designs before any physical construction begins. Stock image.
may be isolated or severely limited due to a commercial outage. The Air Force also modeled how and where additional commercial network services could resolve key resilience and performance issues.
Maritime agencies can simulate the performance of on-board networks for ships, submarines, and other military vessels under different navigating conditions, ensuring network designs meet performance standards before any physical construction begins. This approach reduces maintenance costs, improves equipment utilization, and optimizes design and capacity planning.
Digital twins also offer a powerful security advantage, helping organizations strengthen cyber defenses while minimizing risk to live systems. By enabling threat modeling and attack simulations, such as ransomware outbreaks, denial of service attacks, or lateral
movement within the network, IT teams can proactively identify vulnerabilities and exposure points before attackers exploit them. (Figure 1.)
The technology allows for safe validation of security policies – including firewalls, access-control lists, and segmentation rules – which are critical for zero-trust architectures. It can also ensure identitybased access controls function correctly across diverse users, devices, and workloads within the defense ecosystem.
By providing insight into an agency’s network security posture, digital twins empower security teams to prioritize mitigation actions based on simulated risk scenarios to stay ahead of the evolving threat landscape.
Driving AI and network innovation at scale
As artificial intelligence (AI) grows more powerful – driven by new frameworks and specialized chips running larger, more advanced models – the DoD is accelerating responsible AI adoption at scale for advanced decision-making support.
It’s important to understand that digital twins are not just a support tool – they are a strategic enabler for innovation, playing a vital role in preparing defense networks and infrastructures for AI integration. Serving as a precursor to AI usage, the technology provides a detailed, real-time view of the network that AI systems need to make accurate predictions and optimizations. The data fidelity provided by digital twins is critical for feeding AI models, especially in the areas of network management, predictive maintenance, and resource allocation.
AI-powered digital twin environments can also simulate how DoD networks perform across joint platforms, including airplanes, ships, ground vehicles, satellites, and IoT infrastructure, helping to ensure that every system is connected, responsive, and mission-ready, regardless of location.
The U.S. Navy is exploring the use of digital twins to test local area networks (LANs) that use wireless and satellite
communication systems to reduce foreign object damage to aircraft engines, highlighting how AI-enhanced digital twin environments can prevent mission-critical failures, optimize designs, and strengthen readiness.
Bridging the gap between physical systems and digital intelligence, digital twins give the DoD the ability to deploy AI effectively, accelerate modernization, and deploy next-gen network capabilities – including applications like its Combined Joint AllDomain Command and Control (CJADC2) approach – more efficiently.
Going forward with digital twins
Resilient and adaptive networks are mission-critical for the current state of the defense realm, and digital twins have emerged as a key enabler for the DoD’s next-generation network strategy. The next step is helping government and defense teams adopt this technology to enable modernization without disruption.
Adopting digital twins requires an accurate end-to-end depiction of what the environment looks like. Strategic industry partnerships can help defense agencies standardize networks across the enterprise by integrating configuration and discovery data from disparate systems – enabling a continuously updated, unified model for the end-toend environment.
As data is aggregated, industry partners can support the implementation of automated cross-domain solutions to ensure the respective data is stored on systems designed for the proper classification level.
Industry must work closely with defense agencies across siloed departments to gain a holistic picture of the operational environment. By assessing each department’s specific requirements, pain points, and insight into how digital twins can address those issues, this technology enables departments to maintain control over its systems through role-based access. Even siloed departments can often be persuaded to share data and system access needed to build an accurate digital twin.
When integrated with model-based systems engineering (MBSE), NetDevOps, zerotrust architectures, and defensive cyber operations, digital twins can lay out a unified, comprehensive environment for real-time simulating, monitoring, and securing of sensitive defense systems.
Digital twin technology will stand at the heart of DoD’s network-modernization journey; as AI capabilities expand, the role of digital twins will only grow in importance – serving as the foundation for data-driven decisions and enhanced mission success across the defense enterprise. MES
Yun Zhou is a seasoned software engineer at Tyto Athene with over 12 years of experience specializing in automation, NetDevOps, and SecDevOps. She has led technical efforts in government-enabled software-defined networking (SDN) infrastructures, including analysis of alternatives and theoretical design studies that advanced network-capability maturity. As a technical lead and subject-matter expert, Yun designed, developed, and deployed SDN services for DISA [Defense Information Systems Agency] across the DoDIN [Department of Defense Information Network]. She also spearheaded NetDevOps initiatives, implementing global orchestration and continuous integration/continuous deliver (CI/CD) pipelines to automate configuration management, quality control, and system deployments. Readers may reach Tyto Athene at marketing@gotyto.com
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Software mobility: keeping the U.S. military’s strategic edge
By Michael MacFadden
On the modern battlefield, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has long relied on the collection and distribution of data to stay ahead of the enemy. In the most decisive moments, it is critical to make sure information gets in the hands of the right people at the right time to make decisions that could affect the lives of both military personnel and civilians. Programs including CJADC2 – the military’s Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) warfighting approach – depend on data superiority, which hinges on software mobility.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has set a course to rapidly advance its datasharing capabilities since the Pentagon outlined its strategy five years ago. “Adversaries are also racing to amass data superiority, and whichever side can better leverage data will gain military advantage,” said then-Deputy Secretary of Defense David L. Norquist in 2020. “Our ability to fight and win wars requires that we become world leaders in operationalizing and protecting our data resources at speed and scale.”
This goal is seen in programs like the Pentagon’s Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) approach, which heavily rely on data mobility. While there is no question that being able to move data quickly and efficiently is essential to delivering information superiority, the DoD must also achieve software mobility to continue to dominate.
These two concepts work in tandem to create an environment where it’s nearly impossible for adversaries to deny our warfighters and our allies access essential information that could make or break a mission – even when communications are jammed and those on the battlefield are cut off from command.
This is important because it fortifies the broad, strategic goals of the U.S. military by ensuring access to data not just across the services, but among our partners around the world, whomever they may be and wherever they operate.
Defining software mobility
Put simply, software mobility is the ability to freely move applications around the entire enterprise and run them wherever they need to run based on dynamic mission requirements. While data mobility means moving information toward software – a foundational concept of the “any sensor to any shooter” objective of CJADC2 –software mobility turns that concept inside
A diagram shows a possible CJADC2 [Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control] approach for land-based use. Sigma Defense illustration.
out, making it the software that moves toward the data or the user.
Software mobility is a force multiplier for military missions, providing adaptability, resilience and efficiency to mitigate the impact of disrupted communications. By enabling real-time data access, streamlined operations and coordinated decision-making, software mobility ensures that forces can sense, make sense, and act even in complete communications failure.
Aligning data and software mobility
Data must move freely and securely across systems, networks and domains to stay ahead in modern warfare. In that sense, true data mobility, which needs persistent communications and robust networking that stretches from the cloud to the tactical edge, is a commendable concept in theory. But on the battlefield, degraded or denied communications are given.
So, if mission-critical functions like command and control (C2) or intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) depend entirely on the kind of constant connectivity that proper data mobility requires, operational effectiveness will quickly erode, putting both the mission and lives at risk.
That’s why placing agile, softwaredefined operations directly at or near the tactical edge is a game-changer. It gives operators the power to rapidly deploy and adapt software applications to continue executing mission objectives, even when communications falter or go dark entirely – ensuring the mission moves forward, no matter what.
Understanding battlefield applications
Imagine an operation where an Army squad is forward deployed performing a
reconnaissance mission with soldiers carrying full-motion video (FMV) cameras and a small unmanned aerial system (sUAS) flying overhead providing infrared video.
The team carries a comms kit with general purpose compute, IP mesh radios, and satellite communications for data backhaul. The video feeds from all the sensors flow back to a forward command post, where artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) models detect and identify objects. The detections and video clips are pushed back out to adjacent units through a tactical assault kit (TAK). This is an ideal scenario in which equipment is fully functional and data flows unimpeded.
Next, consider the same scenario, but communications between the forward teams and the command post are jammed. The forward teams lose connectivity to the command post’s TAK server and no longer benefit from the AI/ML system detecting objects. A fragmented picture of the battlespace means that the squad operates blindly, putting the joint force at a disadvantage
That second scenario doesn’t have to happen if software mobility works in tandem with data mobility. When the system detected the loss of communications in the second situation, it would automatically spin up a TAK server and a lightweight version of the object detection model on the forward team’s comms kit. The network would reconfigure so that the sUAS could send its video feed directly to an adjacent team over the mesh network. The soldiers’ ATAK devices (an Android app) would then automatically reconfigure to get the video and alerts from their local device over 5G. (Figure 1.)
When communications are restored, the locally spun-up TAK server and AI/ML workflows would spin back down to save precious battery power on the tactical comms kit. The system would automatically revert to the previous state, relying on services from the remote command post.
This realistic example clearly shows that when data mobility and software mobility work together, they can provide battlefield teams with the best possible C2 and situational awareness in the face of a communications disruption. This occurs because data flow and placement of applications change dynamically based on the state of the network.
Facing challenges to implementation
The last scenario – whereby software mobility and data mobility work together – is objectively good for the military but is highly complex to implement in practice. The DoD community has traditionally deployed siloed systems in which specific hardware runs specific software that is infrequently updated. When those solutions are updated in the field, the operation often requires highly qualified field-service representatives to fly to forward locations and perform manual updates.
It is still challenging to rapidly field and update relatively static systems, let alone systems that need to dynamically distribute and run software as the mission changes. The DoD must overcome these fundamental problems to bring software mobility within reach and will need to make sure information is available to warfighters and decisionmakers where and when they need it. Achieving data mobility and software mobility ensures that joint forces can operate as a cohesive, agile, and adaptable unit in the face of complex and dynamic battlespaces. MES
Michael MacFadden, Chief Technology Officer of Sigma Defense, has more than 20 years of experience in serving DoD customers. Michael received his bachelor of science degree in software engineering from the Rochester (N.Y.) Institute of Technology and a master of science in computer science from San Diego State University. Readers may reach the author at michael.macfadden@sigmadefense.com.
Sigma Defense • https://sigmadefense.com/
Figure 1 | A soldier with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, uses an ATAK device to maintain mobile connectivity during a Joint Pacific Multinational exercise at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. Photo by Samuel Brooks, PEO C3T Public Affairs.
MIL TECH TRENDS
Time-sensitive networking for military applications
TSN is changing military network architecture
By Dan Taylor
Time-sensitive networking (TSN) solves a problem that has plagued military communications for decades: how to guarantee that flight-critical data gets through a network exactly when needed, without interference from less important traffic. For years, defense platforms have relied on separate networks for different functions – one for flight controls, another for mission data, yet another for diagnostics – creating complex, heavy systems that are expensive to upgrade. TSN changes that equation by creating a single, intelligent Ethernet backbone that can turn standard commercial-networking technology into a precision instrument capable of meeting the most demanding military needs.
For decades, defense systems have relied on separate networks for different functions – one for flight controls, another for mission data, yet another for diagnostics. Time-sensitive networking (TSN) offers an alternative “converged network” – a single, intelligent backbone that can handle everything from microsecond-critical flight data to streaming video, all while guaranteeing that the most important information gets through first.
The technology emerged from commercial industries with similar challenges, such as automotive manufacturers merging entertainment systems with brake controls, and industrial automation mixing factory sensors with
administrative data. What they all shared was a need for standard Ethernet’s speed and flexibility, but with ironclad timing guarantees.
Now that same technology is making its way into military platforms, promising to simplify complex systems while actually improving their performance.
What is time-sensitive networking?
At its core, TSN is standard Ethernet with a brain for timing. The technology evolved to solve a fundamental problem: how to guarantee that critical data gets through a network exactly when it needs to, without interference from less important traffic.
“TSN in its basic form allows you to basically isolate communication streams such that you can guarantee certain communication parameters,” says Mike Hegarty, marketing manager at Data Device Corporation (DDC – Bohemia, New York). “So it’s kind of like having a dedicated communication pipe through a larger pipe.” (Figure 1.)
Multiple industries faced the same challenge: “They all had common requirements of wanting higher-speed communication using standard Ethernet capabilities to the greatest extent possible, but they needed certain real-time control,” Hegarty explains.
“They needed bounded latency and jitter, because if you don’t have that, then the control systems get all wonky because they don’t like indeterminate delays through the network.”
Hegarty likens the concept to a train, whereas other networks are more like congested highways. “A train has a certain schedule,” he says. “You go to the station, you get on the train, and it’s going to bring you to your destination, and there’s no traffic. There’s no stopping it.”
For less critical data, TSN offers something like an HOV [high-occupancy vehicle] lane – reserved bandwidth that provides priority without absolute guarantees. Everything else travels in regular traffic lanes.
According to Michel Chabroux, vice president of product management at Wind River (Alameda, California), TSN can transform defense systems by unifying data and control traffic on a single deterministic Ethernet backbone; reducing system complexity and SWaP-C (size, weight, power, and cost); and enabling real-time performance for applications like fire control, radar timing, and fly-by-wire avionics.
The origins of TSN
The military’s interest in TSN stems from a shift away from using separate networks for different functions. Instead of having one network for vehicle management and another for mission systems, TSN enables a converged approach that handles multiple types of traffic on a single backbone.
Hegarty says his company got involved in TSN development through a standards group led by SAE International,
which had been looking at ways to enhance high-speed networks on military platforms. Just last year, the organization put out a paper exploring TSN for military ground vehicles.
The group was tasked by officials at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio to look at ways of coming up with a converged network where “they could take legacy fiber channel Ethernet and something called fiber channel over Ethernet, and kind of blend all these technologies in a way that gives you deterministic communication,” Hegarty says.
The goal was to create “communication that’s appropriate for mission-critical, safetycritical, flight-critical systems, and be able to intermix different traffic classes,” which led to an aerospace-specific profile for TSN called IEEE P802.1DP, he adds.
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TSN’s military applications
TSN’s ability to handle multiple types of traffic with different timing requirements makes it particularly well-suited for complex military platforms in which various systems must coexist and communicate reliably.
The aerospace context presents an appropriate example: “Let’s say you’re passing flight information, which may be primary flight display-type data, so it’s the position of the aircraft, altitude, engine speed, and air speed,” Hegarty says. “It doesn’t get transferred all that often because the pilot can only see things so fast. Then you have all kinds of sensor data running, which may be in the form of imagery or radar data or clear data or all kinds of different sensor data. And that’s very high-speed data.”
The fundamental question becomes: Can you set up a framework where you have a common digital backbone connected to high-performance computers that can do all these different functions at once – intermixing safety-critical functions, missioncritical functions, and lower-critical functions while still maintaining the integrity of the system? TSN makes that possible, Hegarty says.
According to Chabroux, TSN is especially suited for avionics networks, sensor fusion systems like radar and electronic warfare (EW), weapons-control systems, autonomous vehicles, and integrated vetronics in ground vehicles.
“TSN can connect radar sensors, mission computers, and displays using a deterministic Ethernet backbone,” Chabroux says. “The 802.1Qbv time-aware shaper ensures radar data arrives in precise time windows, while less-critical traffic (e.g., health/status monitoring) is scheduled in nonconflicting slots – all over one physical cable.” (Figure 2.)
Advantages over other protocols
TSN’s primary advantage lies in its ability to provide guaranteed timing over standard Ethernet infrastructure, something that wasn’t possible before without proprietary solutions or separate networks.
“The scheduled transmission piece of it is one of the more powerful concepts that’s in there, because that allows us to have dedicated bandwidth,” Hegarty explains. “It’s not the most efficient for every application, but where you want to have real-time communication, real-time command and control through the network, it’s a way to guarantee that.”
However, there is a trade-off involved.
“You do pay a little bit of an overhead,” Hegarty says. “Like with the analogy of the train, the train is going to leave whether there’s somebody on it or not. You know that bandwidth is dedicated. It’s taken out of the available pool, but it’s there for dedicated functions and dedicated communication.”
Even so, this overhead comes with significant flexibility. “You can tune your network with a combination of time-aware nodes and COTS [commercial off-theshelf] Ethernet,” Hegarty says.
Chabroux says some of the main TSN advantages he’s seen include eliminating vendor lock-in as TSN is an open standard; no requirement for special cabling, which reduces implementation costs; determinism over standard Ethernet; time synchronization for coordinated actions; scalability from embedded devices to multisystem platforms; and convergence that enables safety-critical and noncritical traffic to share the same network safely.
“Compared to legacy solutions, TSN provides far greater bandwidth, flexibility, and integration potential,” Chabroux says.
Integrating with older interfaces
One of TSN’s most practical advantages is its ability to work alongside existing legacy systems, making it ideal for technology-refresh programs that can’t afford to rip out and replace everything at once.
“That’s one of the beauties of it,” Hegarty says.
TSN addresses a fundamental reality of military platforms: They will always have legacy interfaces that can’t simply be replaced. The solution uses TSN as the main network backbone, then connects older systems through gateways – essentially translation devices that enable different communication protocols to work together.
Chabroux notes that TSN can coexist with legacy gateways or protocol converters such as TSN-to-1553 and TSN-toARINC, as well as bridges that preserve legacy input/output (I/O) on the edge
Figure 2 | TSN is able to use a common digital backbone to enable safety-critical, mission-critical, and lower-importance functions while maintaining the integrity of the system. Stock image.
while moving core communications to TSN. Also, systems can phase in TSN in new modules while maintaining backwards compatibility.
“This makes TSN a good fit for techrefresh programs, allowing systems to modernize communications incrementally without full redesign,” Chabroux says.
TSN can even work with standard commercial Ethernet equipment that has no knowledge of TSN protocols. “There is the ability to take standard COTS Ethernet and then bring it into a TSN network, and you can actually shape the traffic when it comes into the network, and be able to get a certain amount of performance out of it and improve the performance of the system without changing that piece of equipment,” Hegarty says.
For example, he notes that if a military operator has a COTS Ethernet-based video camera that provides streaming video through an Ethernet port, and that operator connects it to a TSN network, the operator does not need to know anything about that network – they just need to know what data they need to pull from the camera.
TSN and open standards
TSN’s foundation on open IEEE standards makes it a natural enabler for broader open systems initiatives across the defense industry. The technology’s standards-based approach directly supports the military’s push toward modular, interoperable systems.
“That’s the beauty of TSN – you can get to a point where you’ve got boxes and pieces from different vendors and have a high probability of interoperability,” Hegarty says.
However, TSN isn’t a magic solution that makes everything plug-and-play. Instead, the real value lies in reducing integration costs and complexity.
“What it’s really trying to do is to reduce the cost of switching things and the cost of evolving systems and making upgrades and changes to it,” Hegarty says.
Chabroux says that TSN directly supports initiatives aligned with the modular open systems approach (MOSA), such as the Sensor Open Systems Architecture, or SOSA, Technical Standard and the Future Airborne Capability Environment, or FACE, Technical Standard. It does this by providing standardized, deterministic data transport that aligns with the SOSA modular communication model; backbone support for open module interfaces; real-time support required for the FACE Safety Base and Security Profiles; and vendor-neutral interoperability, which reduces integration risk and cost in multivendor systems.
“In SOSA aligned hardware, TSN is often part of the backplane or data plane fabric, allowing time-sensitive sensor data, mission-critical commands, and general IP [internet protocol] traffic to share a unified transport layer," Wind River's Chabroux says. MES
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MIL TECH TRENDS
Executive Interview: Tanika Watson, executive leader for the GE Aerospace Future Vertical Lift business
By John M. McHale III, Editorial Director
Tanika
Watson, executive leader for the GE Aerospace Future Vertical Lift business
Time-sensitive networking for military applications
Recently, I spoke with Tanika Watson, executive leader for the GE Aerospace Future Vertical Lift business, about GE Aerospace’s subcontract to develop and deliver avionics systems for the Army’s Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program, the role of time-sensitive networking (TSN) in the FLRAA digital backbone, and the impact of the modular open systems approach (MOSA) on military avionics systems going forward.
MCHALE: Please provide a brief description of your background in the defense industry and your responsibility within GE Aerospace.
WATSON: As the executive leader for the Future Vertical Lift business, I’m responsible for program execution of all GE Aerospace – Avionics provided content on Future Vertical Lift platforms. I have more than 20 years with GE that spans [the] Healthcare, Power, and Aviation [divisions]. Prior to my current role, I was the Executive Commercial Operations Director for GE Aerospace’s Systems business.
MCHALE: GE Aerospace made news recently with the announcement of a subcontract to design, develop, and deliver avionics systems for the Army’s Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program, providing the platform’s digital backbone. Can you
describe in terms of what capabilities the digital backbone will bring to the FLRAA aircraft that current platforms do not have?
WATSON: The digital backbone provides the customer with a vendor-agnostic path to make aircraft system modifications with ease when needed. They can realize the benefits of MOSA designs from the outset of Future Vertical Lift programs.
Going forward, the digital backbone will change how aircraft are updated and maintained, and it ensures that our soldiers have an advantage on the battlefield. The digital backbone is comprised of the physical components and the software required to make aircraft more adaptable and able to change at the speed of need.
We are delivering these items today: Ethernet switches, nodal exchange points, and the tools that enable this digital data-distribution network. We have two decades of experience in the civil market space doing exactly this type of work.
Today, network updates supporting mission upgrades are a long and laborious process hamstrung by capacity. Time-sensitive networking, or TSN, provides a deterministic, high-speed, rapidly adaptable data transport highway to meet the current and future needs.
To make this a reality, the TSN network requires physical switches to route the data to where it is needed. As a lot of the mission systems today are based on older interfaces, nodal exchange points are needed to convert data from the legacy interface to TSN.
The second component, and no less important, are the tools to make this happen. Configuring the network and putting all the data onto a single data stream is complex. We provide automated, certifiable tools to enable the customer to configure the network.
MCHALE: How does TSN factor into the design of the digital backbone? What problems did it solve?
WATSON: The GE Aerospace TSN digital backbone enables a modular open systems approach (MOSA) by delivering an open, scalable, high-speed data infrastructure.
The digital backbone will conform to the TSN aerospace profile by providing a lowlatency data highway that meets current and future needs for moving data through the aircraft. TSN accommodates safety-critical and mission-critical applications, incorporating features that provide the deterministic and reliable behavior required to prioritize critical data.
The digital backbone allows customers to make changes to the weapon system without going to the systems integrator, which optimizes the cost and speed of change.
MCHALE: What other advantages does TSN bring?
WATSON: Key tenets of TSN include the networking avionics and tools, interoperability, and high bandwidth and security. TSN is an open standard with no licensing requirements.
How it works:
Networking avionics and tools
› The GE Aerospace TSN digital backbone houses the required framework including the end systems, switches, data concentrators, and tool chain.
Interoperability
› The tools’ ease of use and configurability enables interoperability with third-party systems for a vendor-agnostic path to new systems and capabilities.
High bandwidth and security
› Increased bandwidth and security features help enable fielding of the latest mission-focused capabilities for the warfighter.
MCHALE: What provided these functions previously? Ethernet? MIL-STD 1553? And does TSN work with those older interfaces, say, for a tech refresh?
WATSON: TSN accommodates various levels of traffic criticality, incorporating features that provide the deterministic and reliable behavior required to prioritize critical data.
TSN offers a much larger “pipe,” and one that can expand as more and more data throughput is required. This larger pipe enables convergence to a single redundant network eliminating multiple disparate networks; this reduces weight and improves maintainability and upgradability.
To incorporate older interfaces, we are also providing nodal exchange points to interface with 1553, ad-hoc ethernet, RS-422/232, ARINC429, Can bus, etc. and convert the signals to and from TSN.
As you can imagine, scheduling a 1 MB/sec or 196 kbaud signal over a 10 Gbit/sec data stream is a bit of a challenge. This is where the GE Aerospace hardware and
software in the modal exchange points combined with our tools within Chronos are key, converting the data and then scheduling it for use on the newer TSN network.
MCHALE: TSN is a collection of open standards (IEEE standard, specifically IEEE 802.1Qbv, the last I saw). How does TSN enable adoption of other open standards and MOSA strategies in the FLRAA platform and in other designs and architectures you are working on?
WATSON: In addition to the TSN network meeting the requirements of an open standard which can be accessed by anyone, GE Aerospace is also certifying the backbone to Design Assurance Level A (DAL A), the highest level of assurance, so it can accommodate data for critical systems.
Leaders in Modular Open Standards enabling the Modern Warfighter
Go from development to deployment with the same backplane and integrated plug-in card payload set aligned to SOSATM and CMOSS. Includes chassis management, power and rugged enclosure for EO/IR, EW, SIGINT and C5ISR applications.
As a DAL A system, there are no certification issues within the digital backbone that would prevent putting various levels of data on one bus. In addition to the IEEE open standards, the DAL A certification will make the GE Aerospace digital backbone platform- and systemagnostic.
MCHALE: I’ve heard DoD leaders say they need MOSA metrics to combat naysayers. How do you measure MOSA success at GE Aerospace?
WATSON: At GE Aerospace, we measure all our success through the eyes of the customer. The DoD customer has required a MOSA approach in all systems, and the Army will be the final arbiters of how TSN meets this objective.
The ability to use applications from various vendors, to change mission systems without involvement from the OEM, is necessary as budgets decrease. To demonstrate this capability of the GE Aerospace TSN network, there have been several Operational Service Demonstrations where we have proven to our customer that in a very short time, they can change out systems, add or change applications, and integrate within the TSN network, all without the help or assistance of GE Aerospace. We have done similar things with our commercial network systems where after 25-plus years customers have made numerous changes to the system and have never asked GE Aerospace to change or perform additional certification of our system.
MCHALE: As MOSA strategies enable integrators to be vendoragnostic, how do you work with others in the defense industry to implement MOSA architectures?
you at every stage!
WATSON: GE Aerospace and Bell engage industry in conversations not only about specific enabling technologies such as TSN or general-purpose computing for example, but also how to measure success from a MOSA perspective. We participate in industry working groups and standard bodies.
I’ll use a statement from not so long ago from Army Maj. Gen. Walter Rugen to explain what Bell and GE are bringing to the modular open systems approach:
“The number one challenge we have with MOSA is … discipline and management. [What] allowed the enduring fleet of aircraft to wind up with different architectures [is] there was not a driving central body that said, ‘this is the architecture that you are going to go with.’ With MOSA, we have that.”
Regarding discipline, our experience on a host of programs that provide us with a unique perspective on what is required to make this work, and what it takes to keep all the actors on the same page, is what we bring to the MOSA conversation.
MOSA does not work if suppliers are allowed to stray from the standards. Keeping everyone aligned and maintaining the enterprise vision (“One Ring to rule them all”) of a single architecture versus a different architecture for every platform is a key tenet of MOSA. Through open, honest, and frequent conversations, GE and Bell can inform the supply base of the requirements necessary to be compatible with the digital backbone. This is what Bell and GE are bringing to the table.
MCHALE: Regarding MOSA, what other MOSA strategies are you leveraging for avionics platforms? FACE? If so, how and what advantages to they bring?
WATSON: The most important thing we are bringing to MOSA is to ensure that the digital backbone conforms to the open TSN aerospace profile. Everyone can have good intentions, but if there is no conformance to the standards, then the standards aren’t being met and the system will become unique, closed, and proprietary. So, our biggest “strategy” is to make sure that all mission systems that ride on the digital backbone meet and conform to the standards.
Another important feature of the digital backbone solution is to convert content
"The digital backbone will conform to the TSN aerospace profile by providing a low-latency data highway that meets current and future needs for moving data through the aircraft. TSN accommodates safety-critical and mission-critical applications, incorporating features that provide the deterministic and reliable behavior required to prioritize critical data."
to comply with the FVL Domain Specific Data Model (DSDM) to ensure a common definition for network data.
MCHALE: Predict the future. How do you see TSN and MOSA impacting defense system designs five years down the road?
WATSON: Allowing for changing mission systems, adding applications or new capabilities without recertifying the whole system, changing at the speed of need, and significantly decreasing the effort necessary for test campaigns is the advantage and change that GE Aerospace is bringing to the Army. Additionally, open standardsbased TSN networks will allow more and more systems to be native on the backbone, eliminating many of the nodal exchange points and reducing cabling and wiring on aircraft, thus increasing the capabilities of the weapon systems. MES
INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT
Rugged computing & thermal management: Enclosures, chassis, connectors
Liquid cooling unlocks performance in embedded systems
By Morgan Uridil
Over the past several years, CPU outputs have more than doubled in the continuous drive for enhanced processing performance and speed from military embedded computer systems. While these increased power densities create more heat that needs to be managed effectively, the industry is in fact nearing the limits of air-cooling effectiveness. Liquid cooling is the next step to optimize thermal management of embedded computer systems and reduce throttling.
Today’s CPUs and GPUs are delivering more performance than ever. As power densities climb and thermal loads surge, traditional air-cooling methods are beginning to show their limits. For engineers developing mission-critical systems, managing heat is central to unlocking the full capabilities of advanced computing hardware. The industry is approaching a critical inflection point where innovation in heat management will define the next generation of embedded system performance.
Thermal stress introduces a critical throttling threshold beyond which system performance begins to deteriorate. While definitions of this threshold may vary across manufacturers, in defense-grade computing environments, any measurable decline in computational throughput – however minimal – is operationally consequential. Within mission-critical contexts, any degradation of CPU or GPU efficiency can compromise system responsiveness.
Validating system performance under maximum operational stress is essential to ensuring reliability in mission-critical scenarios. Stress-testing systems to 100% CPU utilization provides critical insights into thermal tolerance, processing stability, and overall system resilience; this type of testing is critical for ensuring performance under peak load conditions.
Air cooling approaching effective limits
The performance of military embedded computer systems depends on adequate cooling, but the industry is reaching the limits of air-cooling effectiveness. Liquid cooling increases the reliability of the overall system, lowering the temperature and reducing throttling; the technology also enables a reduced overall footprint with a tradeoff of increased weight.
There are inherent challenges when moving from air-cooled to liquid-cooled designs. For one, when there are requirements for removable components, liquid cooling becomes challenging. One solution is conduction-cooled modular designs, such as single or multidrive packs, which enables the isolation of components that need to be repeatedly removed and installed, while still tying them into the sealed, liquid-cooled solution.
Legacy air-cooled applications can also prove challenging when converting to a liquidcooled solution. The standard 19-inch rackmount infrastructure commonly used across U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) applications, especially within aircraft and surface vessels, are typically designed to support air-cooled solutions. Pivoting to a liquidcooled solution will often require customer investment in infrastructure to support the heat-rejection needs of liquid-cooled designs. Heat-rejection infrastructure typically includes addition of pump, flow meter, and radiator to expel heat.
Design considerations for liquid cooling
Effective liquid-cooling design must account for leak mitigation to protect critical electronic components. This hurdle may be addressed by positioning liquid plenums exterior to the systems, ensuring in the event of a leak that any escaped fluid is exterior to the enclosure. This architecture effectively isolates fluid pathways from sensitive circuitry, thereby eliminating the risk of fluid ingress and associated component failure.
Trying to quantify the performance difference between air-cooled and liquid-cooled systems is difficult because there are numerous variables that impact performance, including ambient temperature, fluid temperature, fluid pressure, flow rate, and more. However, once CPUs start passing the 500-watt threshold and are subject to an elevated ambient temperature, a platform that supports integration of a liquid-cooled solution will likely be needed.
Software innovation continues to outpace the processing capabilities of modern CPUs and GPUs, creating a persistent performance gap. As software teams push for ever-greater computational power, the demand for increased processing throughput and energy consumption shows no sign of slowing. Customers are now routinely
specifying systems with four to six embedded GPUs – compared to just one or two in prior generations. Each additional GPU contributes incremental wattage; cumulatively, this increase presents difficult thermal-management challenges. In many cases, traditional air-cooling solutions are no longer sufficient to maintain optimal operating temperatures. With the increase in processing power and SWaP limitations in the future, there is going to be a transition point where a majority of the systems become liquid-cooled. This shift will be necessary to take advantage of ever-advancing datacenter technology.
An integrated approach for optimal thermal management
To fully optimize high-performance computer systems, engineers must take an integrated approach to cooling. As increasingly higher-power systems come online, liquid cooling will be by far the most effective medium to dissipate heat. While some solutions
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actually are 1100% liquid-cooled, there are situations where it is neither feasible nor practical to liquid-cool every single chip at risk of throttling. In these situations, engineers find themselves optimizing for not only maximum thermal performance, but also weight and cost. This space is where hybrid liquid- and aircooled systems should be considered.
For hybrid systems, the optimal thermalmanagement approach is that of a targeted thermal-zoned enclosure, for which the engineers perform detailed thermal analysis evaluating each chip at risk for throttling. They identify how much power and heat each component in the environment generates. A decision can then be made whether the components should be air- or liquid-cooled, which leads to building of zoned systems that control all air and liquid fluid movement throughout the enclosure. Custom ductwork and heatsinks can be designed to optimize airflow and utilize direct-tochip (DTC) liquid-cooling flow paths.
While liquid cooling is not a new technology, liquid-cooled designs for the rugged embedded military space have unique requirements compared to data centers. Commercial cloud data centers have seven or eight major suppliers that have created liquid-cooling solutions based off reference designs for rackmount systems. While these solutions work for rackmount, they cannot be used in an embedded military space. Data center liquid-cooling solutions aren’t designed for movement, vibration, shock, and other military-standard specifications. Using non-mil-spec parts introduces the risk of leaks and compounded maintenance complications.
Mitigating the risk of fluid leakage in embedded systems requires a purposebuilt cooling architecture – one that is physically isolated and ruggedized to operate independently from sensitive electronics. Beyond leakage prevention, key engineering challenges include managing coolant pressure drop and optimizing fluid dynamics. The solution is custom-designed flow paths and variable-area plenums, which modulate flow rate and pressure as coolant
removes heat from critical components. (Figure 1.) This level of control ensures precise thermal management and maximized heat transfer efficiency throughout the system.
Zoned cooling and beyond
Rising power densities are inevitably pushing military embedded computing toward zoned cooling solutions. The industry is already seeing the limits of traditional forced air-cooling methods, particularly in environments with high ambient temperatures where thermal headroom is scarce. Liquid cooling extends operational temperature
margins, maintains system reliability, and offers acoustic benefits. This all comes while keeping component heat loads below throttling thresholds so full performance potential can be realized. For the next generation of high-performance, mission-critical systems, liquid cooling is no longer optional – it’s essential. MES
Morgan Uridil, as Manager, Advanced Program Pursuits at Crystal Group, leads a team of engineers working on expanding the limits of rapid prototyping and highstakes compute solutions. She has a background in R&D and product
Figure 1 | The AVC0500 rugged sealed server is intended for compact AI-enabled performance with advanced liquid cooling in the most extreme environments.
INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT
Rugged
Rugged mobile computing for the military –specific and standardized
By Joe Guest
The U.S. military’s mobile rugged computing requirements are highly specific, varying, and at times counterintuitive. One size does not fit all in this environment, so engineers and designers should be prepared to go beyond simply understanding the needs and applications of the different branches and must actually be willing and able to provide the flexibility to tailor solutions to fit various situations and time frames.
Table stakes for entering the conversation around rugged mobile computing for the military begin with meeting military-specification (mil-spec), Hazards of Electromagnetic Radiation to Ordnance (HERO), Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2, and other specifications and standards. All of these important prerequisites are designed to shine the light on truly rugged devices capable of operating safely in and withstanding a broad range of military use environments. Also in the mix: the historically foundational factors of needing to optimize SWaP (size, weight, and power), and the newer addition of “C” (cost) for rugged mobile-computer manufacturers to balance and optimize.
Depending on the application, a manufacturer may be asked to provide unique configurations combining emergent technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) with legacy options or even to remove some features. This is where the field of providers narrows, as this space is not the place for inflexible commercial market offerings, commodity products, or machines that aren’t truly rugged. (Figure 1.)
Rugged: Specs make it more than an adjective
The federal government is getting much more specific in requests for quote (RFQs) about products meeting specifications and standards to ensure that military equipment
and products including rugged mobilecomputing devices meet quality, reliability, and compatibility requirements. While some specific requirements of each branch of the military may differ slightly from one to the next, the U.S. military is still very focused on mil-spec technical guidelines and standards used by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Key standards include:
› MIL-STD-810H describes a broad range of environmental conditions a worthy rugged device must be able to withstand. The specification is maintained by a Tri-Service partnership (the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, and U.S. Navy).
Tactical on-the-move applications will rely on computers that meet rigorous military specifications. Pictured: Army National Guard Soldiers with the 1-82nd Cavalry (CAV) Regiment transport a Stryker Interim Armored Vehicle. U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Victoria Paine, 115th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.
› MIL-STD-461G establishes interface and associated verification requirements for the control of emission and susceptibility characteristics of electronic devices. Approved for use by all departments and agencies of the DoD.
› IPXX/Ingress Protection Code is a standardized system that classifies and rates the degree of protection that an electrical enclosure offers against the ingress of dust and water.
› Part of meeting mil-spec standards for rugged computing in harsh environments, the HERO compliance program is designed to prevent accidental ignition of electrically initiated devices (EIDs) in ammunition and explosives due to radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic fields. It assesses how close electronic devices like a rugged laptop or tablet can be to munitions.
› FIPS 140-2 specifies security requirements for cryptographic modules used to protect sensitive information in computer and telecommunications systems. Under U.S. government procurement rules, all solutions that use cryptography must complete FIPS 140-2 validation to ensure that end users receive a high degree of security, assurance, and dependability.
› NIST 800-171 is a cybersecurity standard for protecting what’s known as Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI).
› AS9100 is a quality-management standard ensuring that components are both traceable and manufactured by quality-compliant suppliers.
Contracts, schedules, and programs of record
Aside from product specs, each military branch and government agency uses various contracts to support the acquisition of its mobile rugged requirements. Prospective government customers will know a manufacturer is serious about serving the segment and offering its best price if that company is listed on indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contracts, blanket purchase agreements (BPAs), and U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) schedules.
Within the U.S. military, a program of record (POR) is a formally approved, funded program with a dedicated line item in the budget. Under the auspices of a POR, government program managers want to see production cycles and roadmaps from providers that can be supported long-term.
After the standards, the variations
Some mobile-computing features that are standard in the commercial world can pose security issues for U.S. military and federal government agencies. For instance, mobile connectivity is one feature considered essential in the commercial world – the latestpossible generation of mobile connectivity standard being the most desirable – and
connectivity everywhere is a must. But this isn’t the case with DoD or federal customers who may ask to have Wi-Fi removed because they don’t want the signal broadcast.
When DoD customers need to operate in an extremely restricted or “noncomm” environment, the provider must build units without the Wi-Fi module, enabling the potential user to leverage other, noncommercial secure-communications technology without compromising security. Here, the ability to be flexible with engineering and manufacturing is essential to meeting requirements and satisfying the end user. What this looks like in play is that, whether the end user is communicating through satellite or other means, the communications will typically come back through an RJ45 connection, which the provider would hard-wire in when needed. The other option would be to communicate through an RS232 port to a radio, which enables the user to hook a tablet or laptop into their radio on the battlefield or in other remote locations.
In sensitive locations or situations, the government customer may want a system without Wi-Fi, without Bluetooth, without a camera, or with some legacy capability. They want connectivity where it’s simply controlled, such as satellite or other types of communications. Part of the rationale for this is that it is much more difficult to hack into a secure satcom or other type of system than it may be with more common, more open Wi-Fi signals. MES
Joe Guest, President of Durabook Federal, serves the government market with a background of three decades of experience gained serving in the U.S. Air Force, the National Guard, and private sector government sales. Joe held business-development and executive leadership positions at other rugged mobile computing and notable tech-industry companies.
Durabook • www.durabook.com/us/
Figure 1 | Drone control via field-deployed rugged tablets is part of the evolution of uncrewed aerial systems (UASs) in military applications. Image courtesy Durabook.
CONNECTING WITH MIL EMBEDDED
GIVING BACK
GIVING BACK
Each issue, the editorial staff of Military Embedded Systems will highlight a different organization that benefits the military, veterans, and their families. We are honored to cover the technology that protects those who protect us every day.
By Editorial Staff
Carry The Load is a registered IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that was launched to help veterans, families, and neighbors celebrate Memorial Day, Patriots Day, Veterans Day, and more holidays through community gatherings and storytelling events.
The organization began in 2011 as a grassroots effort by U.S. Navy SEAL veterans Clint Bruce and Stephen Holley to organize active ways to connect Americans to the sacrifices made by the U.S. military, veterans, first responders, and their families. The major push for the charity each year is called “Memorial May,” during which participants raise the funds during walks and events to assist service members, veterans, and their families with financial challenges.
Stephen Holley – also president and CEO and Navy veteran – stated: “Carry The Load first started out of anger and frustration for a nation that we felt had forgotten the true meaning of Memorial Day. Since then, our Memorial May campaign has helped provide healing for friends and family of the fallen and keeps their memories alive."
According to the organization, donations go directly to nationwide services such as counseling, adaptive training, suicide prevention, equine therapy, service dogs, job placements, transition, home improvements, education scholarships for children of the fallen, and more.
Since its founding in 2011, Carry The Load has raised $46 million, with 93% of the funds raised going directly to programs. It also provides grant funds to other not-for-profit partners, enabling them to offer support services and educational opportunities for veterans, active military members, law enforcement, firefighters, and their families. For additional information, visit https://www.carrytheload.org/.
WEBCAST
Electronic Warfare: Powering the Trends in a Rapidly
Sponsored by Infineon
Changing World
As the need for spectral dominance continues, the electronic warfare (EW) landscape continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace –thereby making it essential for military and defense professionals to stay current on electronic and component developments in the semiconductor industry.
This webinar explores the latest trends and technological advancements shaping the future of EW, from the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) to the increasing importance of cybersecurity and electromagnetic spectrum operations. The panel discusses the operational implications of these trends, highlighting the opportunities and challenges they present for military forces and defense organizations. Participants examine the current state of EW and forecasting future developments and gain a deeper understanding of the strategies and solutions needed to maintain a competitive edge in the modern battlespace. (This is an archived event.)
Watch this webcast: https://tinyurl.com/bm294k3e Watch more webcasts: https://militaryembedded.com/webcasts/archive/
WHITE PAPER
20 GHz Direct Sampling: All in One Nyquist –Part 3: Time Interleaving and a Comparison of Options
By Analog Devices
Leveraging a quadrature error correction (QEC) algorithm can be a differentiating method to expand the Nyquist bandwidth in a software-defined MxFE system. Using QEC is critical to expanding the capabilities of a two-channel ADC receiver used in a quadrature sampling system. There are also options to use QEC in a more typical time-interleaving configuration.
This white paper compares options and shows that there is often a better, application-dependent choice. Read the white paper: https://tinyurl.com/mry5kk32
Catch up with Part 1 at https://tinyurl.com/2ek9nvhc and Part 2 at https://tinyurl.com/2xaj36an
Get more white papers and e-Books: https://militaryembedded.com/whitepapers
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